V. Italian-Libyan “Friendship” and the
Return of Boat Migrants to Libya

In September 2006, Human Rights Watch published a report, “Libya:
Stemming the Flow: Abuses against Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees.”[6]
The present report could have had the exact same title with one addition:
Italy’s name would be added next to Libya’s.

On May 6, 2009, Italy began unilaterally interdicting boat
migrants on the high seas and returning them summarily to Libya.[7]
A week later, Libya and Italy announced the beginning of joint naval patrols in
Libyan territorial waters, although it was unclear whether and how they were
operating. At the May 14, 2009 launch ceremony for these patrols, the Guardia di Finanza commander,[8]
Cosimo D'Arrigo, said that the boats “will be used in joint patrols in
Libyan territorial water and international waters in conjunction with
Italian naval operations.”[9] He added
that “members of the Libyan coast guard will also be stationed at our
command station on the island of Lampedusa and will take part in patrols on our
ships.”[10]The joint Italian-Libyan
patrolling mission is due to last an initial three years.[11]

In the first week after the interdiction program began,
about 500 boat migrants were summarily returned to Libya, resulting in a
dramatic curtailment in the number of boats attempting the journey from Libya.[12]
Over the course of the next eight weeks, only 400 were interdicted and
returned.[13]
Irregular boat migrants to Sicily (including Lampedusa) and Sardinia fell by 55
percent in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period the
previous year.[14] The migrant
detention centers of Lampedusa, the tiny Italian island just off the North
African coast, vividly illustrate this: in January 2009, they were filled
beyond capacity, holding nearly 2,000 people, and migrants were sleeping on the
floors.[15] For a
time in early June, the Lampedusa detention centers were completely empty of
migrants.[16]

Why the number of migrants attempting the Mediterranean
voyage fell so dramatically is a matter of speculation. Certainly a new naval
cordon was a strong deterrent to boat departures, as embarking on a dangerous
journey is only worth the risk if there is some chance of success.[17]
But the fall in the number of departures could also be because Libyan
authorities strengthened their efforts to prevent departures.

Libyan leader, Mu`ammar al-Gaddafi’s incentive to stem
the flow of migrants is a newfound partnership with Italy. After nearly a
decade of negotiation, Italy and Libya signed TheTreaty of
Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation between the Italian Republic and Great
Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (the ‘Friendship
Pact’) on August 30, 2008.[18] The
real trade off for Libya’s cooperation in stopping irregular migration
appears to be Italian investments in Libya: The Friendship Pact provides for $5
billion in compensation for abuses committed during Italy's rule in Libya (from
1911 to 1943). The money will be invested by Italy over a 25-year period at the
rate of $200 million per year in infrastructure projects in Libya.[19]

The Friendship Pact calls for “intensifying”
cooperation in “fighting terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking and
illegal immigration.”[20] The two
parties agree to strengthen the border control system for Libyan land borders
(50 percent funded by Italy and 50 percent to be sought from the EU), and to
use Italian companies in this endeavor.[21]

Both Italy and Libya have incentives for stemming the flow
of irregular migrants. Foreigners comprise 10.5 percent of Libya’s
population of 5.8 million[22] and 87
percent of the 536,000 foreigners residing in the country in 2004 were
undocumented.[23]
Although for many years al-Gaddafi welcomed sub-Saharan Africans to Libya in
the name of pan-African solidarity, present-day Libyan authorities seem to
regard the influx from the south as more of a threat. Libyan foreign minister,
Moussa Kusa, said the “real problem in Libya regarding illegal
immigration” is the “uncontrollable” 4,000-kilometer southern
border.[24]

The number of irregular boat migrants arriving in Italy from
North Africa rose from 19,900 in 2007 to 36,000 in 2008, an 89.4 percentage
increase.[25] Italy
also received 31,164 new asylum applications in 2008, an increase of 122
percent from the 14,053 asylum applicants in 2007.[26]
In 2008, Italy ranked as the fourth highest asylum host country in the
industrialized world, trailing only the United States, Canada, and France.[27]

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who draws some of
his political support from anti-immigrant parties, has used the issue of
undocumented migrants for political advantage and to attack the idea that Italy
is a multiethnic and multicultural society.[28]“The Left’s idea,” he said, “is that of a
multiethnic Italy. That’s not our idea.”[29] Berlusconi has said,
“We don't want Italy to become a multiethnic, multicultural
country. We are proud of our culture and of our traditions.”[30]

[8]The Guardia di Finanza
(GdF) is a special police force of the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance
that carries out security, judicial and fiscal police activities in close
cooperation with the Ministry of Defense, including control of terrestrial and
coastal Italian borders. Italy’s coast guard is the Corpo delle
capitanerie di porto - Guardia Costiera(commonly known as the Guardia
Costiera), which operates as part of the Italian Navy corps under the
Ministry of Defense. The Guardia Costiera is responsible for the safeguard of
human life in sea.

[16]Migration News Sheet reports Mr. Buccarello,
councillor on immigration for the municipality of Lampedusa, as informing
“the media that since May 6, 2009 when the Government began its new
policy of returning to Libya those irregular migrants/asylum-seekers who
departed from there, more than 170 more had arrived.” “Irregular
migrants/asylum seekers are still arriving on the Italian island of
Lampedusa,” Migration News Sheet, July, 2009.

[17]
According to the International Organization for Migration, “Many illegal
immigrants have been discouraged from attempting the sea voyage because of
Italy’s new policy.” Quoted in “'Outsourcing' asylum seekers
the Italian way,” NRC
Handelsblad, July 24, 2009, http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2309813.ece/Outsourcing_asylum_seekers_the_Italian_way (accessed
July 24, 2009).

[18]
“Gaddafi, Berlusconi sign accord worth billions,” Reuters, August
30, 2008, http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLU29214620080830 (accessed
June 26, 2009). See also, “Firma per risarcimento Italia-Libia,
‘Saremo uniti sull'immigrazione,’” La Repubblica.it, August
30, 2008, http://www.repubblica.it/2008/05/sezioni/esteri/libia-italia/berlusconi-gheddafi/berlusconi-gheddafi.html(accessed July 23, 2009). The Italian Senate ratified the
agreement on February 3, 2009; Libya ratified it a month later.
“Italy-Libya: Tripoli Ratifies Friendship Treaty” ANSAmed, March 2,
2009, http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME01.@AM49114.html
(accessed June 29, 2009). The treaty builds on a December 2000 bilateral
agreement and a December 30, 2007 Protocol of Understanding in which the two
countries agreed to collaborate to stop irregular migration, including through
joint maritime patrols. See Ministry of Foreign Affairs, http://www.esteri.it/MAE/EN/Politica_Estera/Aree_Geografiche/Mediterr_MO/Rapporti%20bilaterali%20Paesi%20del%20Maghreb/Libia.htm?LANG=EN
(accessed June 26, 2009).

[23]
There were 468,000 residents living illegally in Libya in 2004 out of a total
foreigner population of 536,324, according to Omran Abdusalam Sofrani and
Hussein Saleh Jwan, citing statistics from the General Department of Passports
and Citizenship, 'International Migration to Libya', presented in Tripoli.
Omran Abdulsalam Sofrani and Hussein Saleh Jwan, “International Migration
to Libya,” 2009. On file with Human Rights Watch.

[28]
The political manipulation of the issue became quite ugly. After UNHCR
criticized Italy’s return of boat migrants in May, the Italian defense
minister, Ignazio La Russa, said that UNHCR was “not worth a damn.”
He accused UNHCR’s Italian spokesperson, Laura Boldrini, of being
“a notable Communist party member and a criminal.” He went on, ''I
accuse her of being inhumane because she wants us to keep [illegal immigrants]
in holding centers and then expel them. Or, since she wants them to escape once
they've reached Italy, she's a criminal who ignores the law.'' “La
Russa contro l' Unhcr: ‘Non conta niente,’” Vincenzo Nigro, La
Repubblica, May 22, 2009, p. 6, http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2009/05/17/la-russa-contro-unhcr-non-conta.html
(accessed July 23, 2009). Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini
rebuked La Russa, but only for being impolite, saying, “'International
organizations always merit respect even if they make mistakes in evaluating a
government.'' Quoted in “Migranti, Frattini frena La Russa:
‘L'Onu sbaglia, ma va rispettato,’” La Repubblica.it,
May 17 2009, http://www.repubblica.it/2009/05/sezioni/cronaca/immigrati-7/la-russa-boldrini/la-russa-boldrini.html
(accessed August 27, 2009). La Russa later apologized for his remarks.